Primary school children exchange cards.
All five primary schools in Bridgnorth were contacted and asked if they wanted
to partake in a Christmas card exchange with schools in Schrobenhausen and
Thiers, but Castlefields were the only one to reply.
Their Head (Rebecca Lee) shared her enthusiasm for the idea and explained
how the twinning links between our towns gave her the opportunity to visit
Thiers when she was at secondary school. The trip sparked her interest in French
and she was the first member of her family to get an O Level in a foreign
language.
We created a PowerPoint presentation for teachers to use in their classrooms. It
got pupils to think about the twinning links we see around town, such as the
welcome road signs and the 30 Years celebration bench in Castle Gardens. All of
the children, from those of nursery age (three years old) up to Year 6 (eleven
years old) learnt about the towns and then added their own design to two
Christmas cards per year group- one to be sent to France, and one to Germany.
We were absolutely blown away by the hard work and creativity that went into
the cards. Each year group did their own thing, and it is wonderful to see the
end result when you let children have some artistic licence.
We had feedback from parents of the school saying how their children had
come home and were talking about Thiers and Schrobenhausen, and explaining
what they had learnt about the two towns. It even sounds like the children in
Reception class used Google Maps to have a virtual walk around the towns,
noting what they could see looked similar and what they differences they could
spot.
After three long weeks (we paid for 2-3 days tracked delivery, but hey ho!) the
cards finally arrived at their destinations. The Castlefields children are looking
forward to receiving their cards from the French and German children in the
New Year.
Have a look at the cards that our children designed. and how happy the German
children look having received theirs.
If successful, we hope to make this an annual exchange.
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